The reason I felt the need to do a questionnaire is so that my own preference in design doesn't overtake which design is the most suitable/appropriate/effective for the target market.
The questionnaire asks the market directly, for example, are Leona, Lady Gaga and Dizzee Rascal artists that teens would know of and find appeal in? It is therefore another technique which will allow me to gauge if I have been on the right track so far.
So far I've only had a few of the questionnaire returned. However, importantly, suggestions made will be considered and implemented as the site creation takes place.
I'm surprised at how much I am liking the creations - I am not after all, a teenager anymore!
I started off thinking that because it was for younger people, I would have to shy away from sophisticated design and instead splash the screen with a rainbow of colours. I sort of did, but then found ways to refine the look and give it a qualitative feel.
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The first, I'mlegit.com definitely dons it's neon colourings and goes full out, with angular boxes, punchy typefaces (retro and game like) and images to explain straight away, rather than having just text. Perfect for teens who deem reading tiresome and uncool.
I also added in twitter like speech bubbles to each of the sectional boxes. It gives it a better look all round, I think and should tie in a contemporary feel with twitter being the newest of the social networking platforms.
I added in a film strip in the background to try and give the site some sort of identity. If it wasn't for this, the site could be for any content by merely changing the text. Hopefully now the film reel will show I'mlegit.com is media related.
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The next design I had the most trouble with- I HEART legal
The typeface in the logo I think looks a little dishevelled but still bold and beautiful. Taking this as the main focal point the site initally ended up looking better suited to 20 something females, appreciating the red hearts and curly handwriting typeface.
However, I refocused my efforts and dulled down the simple white, black and red designs, inserting darker grey shades, and a predominant diagonal background. It may still appear a little boring though to the younger teens.
From FRANK, I learnt that by putting content in black boxing, it makes it noticeable. Here I think it remains the case. Text and image have a chunky black box, with it quite a modern design choice, as modelled over at Channel 4OD.
The content boxes in the homepage I gave curved edges to try and counter balance the very angular framework in the rest of the site. Again, speech bubbles help to reflect a twitter like design scheme.
I found through my research of popular youth sites that they liked a lot going on the screen - distracting backgrounds, bright eye catching colours, modular boxes with content and images. This site I think at first does that, with the contrasting black and white text boxes, the stripey diagonals and the bright red focal points all vying for your attention. I must admit though, I do like it.
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PWR2DA PURCHASER
This site maximises on angular and eschewed boxes, with pointy black frames to emphasise their position on the vibrantly coloured background.
Everything here is all very legible courtesy of a black on white text scheme, and also, neon borders help section up the content. Links are blue, content contrastingly is orange. A whole series of these boxes down a page would not look out of place on myspace.
Of all the designs, I think this one would appeal most to the younger teens. The curvy funky writing is something they will find familiar through experience with CBBC and Cartoon Network - popular sites for the younger generation that has passed.
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So now I intend to seek responses from some teenagers, by means of a quick questionnaire. All comments, ideas and suggestions are appreciated from us older people known as 20 somethings.
It was around this stage in our group design process last time with Bestwood, that we noticed the background was lacking. It was then that we found the great pixelknete.
This time I wanted to add a little something to the backing for one of my copyright prevention society site designs. One or two sites associated with teenage users employ diagonals. They add some visual distraction in the background, and also add a tone to the overall feel of the site.
This time then a great generator I've located is stripe generator. It does what it says on the tin, but makes the diagonal stripe creation process automated and therefore easy.
A new report from BBC Tech informs that changes in telecom laws now mean that a court ruling isn't required to disconnect persistent illegal offenders.
What I find interesting is that France so far is the only country who has taken any real actions to curb anti-piracy. I cannot instantly think of a reason why, but the punishment of up to a year offline would certainly make people think twice. Perhaps it's because France is considered a place of creativity and art, so they don't wish for this to be diluted and strangled through illegal copying of material?
However, importantly, the report still does still lend gravitaz to the fact that even our own Prime Minister has identified internet as a human right, along with things that do in fact sustain life, water, warmth etc.
Personally, I think this wrangle will continue for some time, even though the UK's decision is set next month. It will likely take something or someone big to prompt a response that vehemently tackles piracy.
After making up the homepage designs of the possible piracy site, I have since turned my attention to how the inner pages which would hold the main content hinted at on the front page.
This first one may pose the most problems of them all. Using absolute positioning in the CSS would make it easier, but these sites are impractical when viewed on varying browsers and size screens. Instead, I would have to try and maintain what is deemed good design and use margins/padding.
The main problem I have experienced is making these wire frames before being 100% sure of the actual content I will place on the site. Hence, some boxes may not hold enough text, or there may be too many etc. At least with a real client project, they should have a more fixed idea of what will need to go in content wise... I can guess that won't always be the case though!
I have been thinking of possible routes to take my website down. Using teenagers as the core audience, there are several potential looks to take: risky, racy, cutesy or out there. Most of all what I think would be a great motivator to employ would be creating a sense of empowerment, or a quantifying statement. Teenage years are often looked on as being a time of finding yourself and expression.
A few ideas for titles I came up with were:
This sort of rebellion led look, particularly with the fist, uses a text message typeface and language to create a visual that feels strong and reaks of uprising. (The humorous irony therefore about buying songs properly etc, just adds to it.) Being fervent users of technology, I believe the "text speak" would have a good standing, appealing to teenagers.
This I like. It is quite striking, using three simple colours (black, white and red) and the sort of I HEART NY movement is a well known one. Furthermore, the alliterative nature of the Ls rolling off the tongue add another element. To a consumer it should be very simple to understand, but also holds more than one meaning - I love being inside the law, I love the quality of legal music/content.
It was then I thought that I could build on the Knock off Nigel campaign in some way, using the sort of colloquial, everyday man type of language: I'm legit.com
In particular, I liked the blocky but obscure typeface called Negatron.
Teamed with the neon colours I've found that commonly make up music sites design, this logo I'm going to continue developing. Employing modern graphics styles such as folded corners should give it more modern day appeal and also, testing it out in a range of neon colours should produce more options and hopefully more inspiration for the site design at large.
This first one I immediately thought of as the most direct and representative way of displaying file sharing and importantly, the consequences. I did initially fear this would be seen as a way of showing users how to pirate material, however, after using the FRANK site which allows a user to digitally snort coke, but then showing the consequences, I thought it a worthwhile drawback.
Here therefore, although adopting a witty tone, which teenagers should appreciate, the consequences will be laid out in several forms. They will be direct and inform of alternatives.
Notably, if the user uses the legal options available, a rewards system could be unlocked with gifts such as legit downloads.
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The second design I think should be entitled a Taste of Your Own Medicine.
Often teenagers care little for the impact piracy has on the artists and the industry. Here therefore, the user is encouraged to upload a picture, and then decorate it on the digital canvas. Once the design is complete, the user is encouraged to push go. It is at this stage that a video kicks in showing their recently made picture on ebay, with bids racking up, and it ending with a decent profit. A line then appears saying, "Thanks. For the picture, and the money we just made."
The user should be feel a little put out at this stage, and therefore should be able to empathise with the artists, sending home the effects of piracy.
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File Invaders
In a digital, blocky Space Invaders type design, files will start falling from the sky. It is up to the user to act as a filter, blocking the illegal connection requests.
For example, iTunes, Limewire, Spotify, iPlayer icons will start falling down and the user must line up their barrier using the arrow keys, and stop Limewire by blocking it's path. Each successful block will increase the point score. As the game progresses, the pace at which the files drop will increase, adding to the difficulty and intensity of the game. Furthermore, the number of illegitimate connections compared to legal could become disproportionate, representing how piracy through file sharing outnumbers legitimate downloads.
At the end, a message will appear stating how this is the state of current downloads. The user can then integrate their score on Twitter or Facebook and invite friends to try and better it.
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In all, I remain favouring the desktop experience. It will be realistic and recognisable to the user, and so instructions on how to operate will likely need to be minimal. For instance, if a message pops up, the user will likely know to cross it off or press OK.
Furthermore, I think in a personable/colloquial way, I can inform of how piracy is illegal, the consequences, and the alternatives. I noticed before that the register of how you communicate with the teenage age group is important.
I started off last term thinking I'd explore the accessibility route for my research. It would inevitably have proven wise knowledge to hold when wanting to sell myself as a web designer in the future. But this was mooted as being a "done" topic by Danny. Shaun then suggested trying to co-align the client and the PRP - and I think it could work out.
The first draft of my new question is now:
What standards are necessary to achieve a better browsing experience on the mobile web?
At this stage, I believe this will involve looking at:
The hardware
·the phone itself, whether it be a touch screen or requiring keyed inputs, also the advanced components it has such as accelerometers or a GPS chipset
·the processing power of the handset – determining how smoothly and quickly the page can scroll, how quick the data can be loaded from the server
·the data connection used (GPRS, EDGE, 3G, WIFI) - affecting the speed of which the data can be downloaded to the device
·the internet browser utilised (Safari, Opera, Webkit in Android) - this playing a role in how it handles style sheets and renders text and images
·the screen resolution – typically the larger the better, but with mobile devices screen space is of a limited nature so finding adequate resolutions so that text is legible, whilst video appears qualitative will be important
Meanwhile, real importance also lies in the on screen design:
·through CSS (the techniques and mark-up) – what does and doesn’t function on the various mobile browsers
·the layout and presentation on screen - what text size is appropriate for different areas on the page, how large must a button appear, should links be underlined
·the usability in terms of knowing where to place links or content and generally providing what the user would expect
·justifying and necessitating the actual content on screen – mobile browsing is often a quick, short experience so superfluous, additional content would prove hinder some in equating to an efficient mobile browsing experience
This remains a work in progress, and I think I may well refine it further, perhaps specifying touch screen devices only or focus merely on the stuff I can affect i.e. the coding of the stylesheets and design. The only other problem is that with real mobile web being quite a new topic it isn't going to have the vast amount of reading material that other topics can enjoy. There are some though so I shall have to scout them wisely.
Bright, fluorescent colours, large, eye catching images make up these sites. They clearly aren't afraid of drawing attention to themselves, in fact, it's something they go out of their way to achieve - obviously.
Busy background images, alongside music players that start without request also are quite widespread. Navigation is throughout offered through a horizontal bar, however, there are duplicate links housed within the modular information. This modular content, in it's own window adds to the busy looks created however it does make the information manageable. It deals with that and that only.
Altogether, from visiting such sites I get the feeling that it's look first, read later for the teens targeted. This will definitely have an impact upon the text on my site therefore. Short and relevant will be the primary objectives content must achieve.
After researching campaigns in circulation, it was the FRANK one that stuck out the most. Targeting a teenage audience, it was highly confrontational in it's content. As an age group, teens are likely to be prevalent file-sharers. In fact, statistics back this up. As of which, I saw FRANK as a great research ground, design wise, showing what works (or doesn't) in attaining and informing a teenage age group.
I decided firstly to utilise the Constantine and Lockwood method of analysis for the site's design. Doing so should help identify the methods used (or not used) to create a user-centric site.
Structure principle
The site uses quite well defined sections in it's navigation bar. Within these, numerous extra sections are then divided up. When looking for positives, this means the content does have an association with the parent link it spawns from also it sort of embodies a feeling of organisation. However, seeing further links could just make the user feel as if the site gets deeper and deeper, perhaps drowning them in too much information. Fortunately, the user only needs click once more to find out the associated information they want.
Simplicity principle
The site displays vast amount of information through the form of Q&As. This breaks up the information well and provides notable headings throughout regarding the content of what is being said. Furthermore, the style of the writing is in a colloquial, non formal manner: like say the pub, or a mate's house. The target audience of this site typically don't appreciate being spoken down to so the chatty style, non too complex, is suitable and apt.
The links provided are also very straight forward - Finding Support is clear and understandable as to what it is about.
Visibility principle
Although being diverse and eyecatching, the mish mash of colours everywhere can cause some confusion for the eye. It is difficult to look at one thing without being distracted by a different garish colour next to it. Complimentary colours would work better, but this wouldn't maintain the gritty, out of order look sought.
All the main links/headings are emphasised by means of a black box surround and contrasting white coloured text. The contrast between black and white being the most you can ever achieve, throughout the site these links are consistently easy to spot and easy to identify.
Feedback principle
The site does a flow diagram like information piece to let the user know how far down into the site they are and where they have come from to get there - this being a common feature of a lot of websites. However it isn't highly noticeable so it may go amiss. With this site holding a lot of information, after clicking through several pages and only then arriving at something you wanted to find out about, the user may feel pretty deep and therefore overwhelmed by the abundance of information.
Reuse principle
Headings/links use the familiar contrasting black and white styling, and once you see one, you notice them all throughout the site. This is good. Furthermore, the wording of the navigation bar links is repeated within the site's links so again you seem to be aware of and understand what to expect by following the hyperlink.
The typeface used for headings remains continuous throughout, likewise they only use one style and size for the body text. This enables the user to become adjusted quickly to what each section on the page is.
Tolerance principle
The links in the site are often recycled so to ensure that the information doesn't go unnoticed. This is good, as it means less chance of not finding the information and can appease more people due to slightly different wording being understandable to different people. However, there is the downside that people become annoyed by being invited to read again and again the same information.
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Interactivity
When the site first loads, we are immediately presented with and invited to participate in an interactive Flash piece, the Cocaine Den. There is no messing about, it is hard hitting and thought provoking.
You are taking down to the Cocaine Den where immediately the scene is set through brooding lighting, hallucinogenic type animations and grubby, scratchy navigation options.
It is actually quite hard to see in the Den, with a lot being hidden in the dark. This hinders navigation and usability somewhat. However running your mouse over the area slowly flashes up the links, alongside visual representations. Furthermore, you have the links twice along the bottom of the scene and also on the right handside set of links. In regards to the actual scene, some links seem normal, a TV you guess to include video clips and indeed, it does. I like this straight forward way of presenting clips, it is simple and makes sense.
However the content that is available is quite graphic, distressing and would definitely shock an unknowing viewer. This must be the technique being pursued by the creators. Simply the awfulness of what is being shown may shock some into realising the gravity of drug taking.
For those not wanting to watch videos, a table with newspaper clippings provides an alternative reading opportunity.
Again parts of the content is graphic, unpleasant and shocking. In the most forceful way it can, the site puts forward that drugs and it's associated activities are terrible. You can zoom and move around the newspaper using your mouse and reading the paper as if you would for real. This is another technique used to help reinforce the reality and immerse the user in the den.
Moving around the den, the next section ponders the question of what will happen after constant drug abuse. It displays this through a framed image of a teenage boy that changes in response to more drugs.
Oncemore, the visuals prove off-putting and stark. Compared to text, the power and potency of an image is highly noticeable and validates itself as a definite emotive tool to persuade the viewer.
The last section in the Cocaine Den maintains the shock value by providing the option to snort coke and then go hunting (using your mouse as a real hand), around on a dirty, littered floor for more unknown powdered substances.
What is good is that alongside the interactivity, and the shock value, the site slides factual information amongst the action, in bite size chunks which manage to impart bits of information at a time. For teenagers, this is probably the most successful way to do it: they wouldn't feel as if they had a lot to read, they would likely read if they knew they could continue with the "fun" game on offer and also it is relevant to what they are currently doing.
At first I wondered whether it was suitable to be replicating drug taking online - whether it was simply demonstrating how to do it. However, by doing it virtually, you are not breaking the law. You see the consequences and hopefully this should rule out for a lot the possibility of doing it for real. This makes it ideal, and therefore could prove helpful as a method to combat illegal activity. Extra interactivity
The site is a little more humerous in other Flash games, which I guess to be older interactive pieces that played a bigger role in the past. The Spliff Pinball is a fun, familiar game but again adds small inserts of the effects of drugs.
A section I really liked was the user generated content.
People who have experienced aspects of drugs in their lives can upload and submit a visual image, representing how they feel, or have been affected. This again adds a feeling of immediacy by proving how real the problem is. Although the coke taking game may have just been something you've seen on your screen, for some it is in their lives and this realness proves quite grounding. Henceforth, user submitted stories and images provide another way of cutting through and driving the message of drugs to the user.
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In all, a lot can be taken from FRANK and indeed I will be using what I have found to work well in my own designs:
I am less fearful now of replicating file-sharing for my own project, as once you display the consequences, a lot should then think twice about doing it for real.
Furthermore, I should find it easy to target a teenage audience as I am not so long from that age group and should therefore identify and correctly register with this audience through the visualiation, and also communicatory style.
There seems to be quite a bit at the moment about file-sharing and the Government's proposal - are they going to cut people off or not?
This came up on BBC Technology, talking about how many may be subject to disconnections if their unsecured WIFI is being hijacked for illegal purposes. I know there are certainly plenty of apps which allow a user to find the nearest free WIFI and have see news reports on the act of hotspotting. In terms of our project, this could be a possible lead to take for the Copyright client project.
Large, but limited amount of easy to read text/links
Emotive, enticing visual images
Increasingly, the campaigns are becoming more hard hitting, for example the Cocaine Den on FRANK and The Boy Who Didn't Stop, Look and Listen on Tales of the Road.
As a consequence, the cutesy cartoon style of the hedgehogs has been retired in favour of puppet like animations using a sullen colour and eerie chilling story telling format. This to me, proves a definite indication of the change in interests of the younger generation nowadays.
Adults
Campaigns featured: Swine Flu, DigitalUK Switchover, Chip&Pin, Self Assessment: tax doesn't have to be taxing, TV Licensing: It's All in the Databade
These campaigns which target the mid to older generation tend to follow a format consistent throughout:
Direct, straight to the point headings/text
A simple image/graphic serving as a reference point
One colour for highlighting/emphasising
I think the balance between text and image in this target market is more so here, as this age group are coming from a time when information was largely provided through text, and graphics were not used, perhaps through belief that graphics were too simple, or not serious enough.
I think from this I can see that more inventiveness is permissable using a younger generation. They have more games or interactive pieces, use imaginative ways to market the infomation (story telling, or making the topic of drugs a character - FRANK) and I believe are the most important group to target in terms of file-sharing.
I may be wrong, but youngsters tend not to have much money and so this could help explain why they may turn to illegal means for acquiring content, whilst adults have credit cards and jobs(!) to allow them to download using iTunes, or subscribe to Napster.
Being a more recent campaign, Knock off Nigel has mostly comprised of pre-feature film adverts or fliers that come inside the DVD box.The website to accompany is an interactive Flash piece, that maintains the styling of retro 70s. With this I associate the sort of dodgy dealer, or Del Boy type character.
Interestingly, the site features a number of techniques to try and gain an audience, and encourage them to partake in the Knock Off campaign, for example downloading the spoof ringtone.s These are quite humorous in the sound and content, but the message is clear and strong. Through labelling him as "cheap" it is easy to feel that knock off Nigel is not liked for his actions. What I felt odd though is that most piracy is now done through downloading for free. The ringtones here you just download for free too. I was expecting to have to pay or visit a licensed distriutor and so this did feel a little odd in the grand scheme of the message being pushed.
The advert on the site features a general mass shaming of Nigel. This is good I think as people regularly now visit youtube to see a video that is being virally spread around. The song featured again is comedic in it's production, but features the stronger more confrontational language.
Another part of the site invites you to email your friends sending a doctored photo of Nigel, but with your friend's photograph. Again, I can see deeper connotations behind this than the humorous, comedic value presented on screen. People most likely will email this to friends who they know to download and have pirate DVDs. This emailing option too reaffirms the naming and shaming, but on a personal level, amongst us. Who are we to know that the addresses entered aren't being monitored?
The best interactive feature I found was the interactive test. People will most likely do this out of curiosity, to see what the end result will say. The involving nature of doing a test will please younger visitors, sort of in the same vein as answering questions in a quiz, or finding out which celebrity you are most like that feature often in magazines.
Personally, I don't find the styling appropriate for an anti-piracy campaign of today, where it's all about broadband speeds, mp3 and digital downloads of films. This, however may be more a case of the designers being told to cater to a wider, perhaps older audience?
This campaign should be familiar to anyone whose been to the cinema or watched a DVD within the last couple of years.
Initially, I found I preferred this sort of more hard-hitting, gritty approach. It feels more appropriate for the topic of stealing. The music is loud and punchy, the messages that appear on screen are simple to follow. This definitely has it's place for dealing with the mass piracy culprits who are seriously flaunting and breaking the law.
However, for the rest of us, the general public, I found the online representation provided by the Motion Picture Associations page on Content Protection to be more effective.
A simple page on first glances, admittedly appearing a little text heavy, with only two poster thumbnails for this, their anti-piracy campaign. The first thing that hits you is that the site is a little out-dated, in it's styling, but also, it could purvey a feeling of lacking importance. Nonetheless, after looking at the pages, there is definite potential and it would only take some re-imagining of the visuals to craft a great anti-piracy site for the general public.
The links provided are all good - they offer information on copyright, and not just for the US, but international too. Another highly worthwhile link is providing legal options to get hold of the content. This to me is something that seems obvious, but quite a few sites lack this. What's great too is that it isn't all pay for content sites, but for example, ABCs online video player. Another of the links provides the option to Report Piracy, but finally a Frequently Asked Questions pages is what people will find most useful. Copyright in all it's legal bureaucracy can be confusing, so simple answers to common questions such as proves the most informative and useful:
What are the penalties for illegally downloading/uploading movies on the Internet?
Let's just say it's a bad idea. Illegal downloading of movies is often done via peer-to-peer (P2P) services. Typically the way these services operate, when you download an illegal file , you also agree to make that file available (along with everything else on your computer's "shared folder") to other members of the P2P network. This means you're not only in possession of stolen goods, but you're also a distributor. In the eyes of the law, this is a much more serious offense involving civil and criminal penalties. Bottom line: It's not worth it. Here's a list of sites that offer movies and TV shows easily and legally online.
Again, it can be seen that legal options are being pushed and I think this is the right way to do things. Common criticisms of the Industry's copyright claims was that they failed to set up the mechanisms to distribute content digitally, and quickly in the first place, henceforth the pirates were left to do it.
I like also that they handle the topic of copyright in a colloquial way, as in, a way that you and I would talk. Furthermore, they are aware of the criticism that people throw at claims such as the industry lost $18B last year and say that these aren't over the top estimations. The overall tone and register of these pages just appear to create a more reasonable relationship with the public, rather than the hard-faced dictator style.
Where I think this site could improve mostly is in it's visual presentation. They seem to have all the relevant information, and perhaps with a little siphoning could have it appeasing a web reader's attention span. Through use of imagery, a clearer navigation system and some sort of independence web-wise (i.e. not just another page of a much larger site) then this could really work. The links they provide to alternate Copyright centric sites certainly prove that good visuals can tie up with informing people of the correct and legal way to watch content:
I love the styling of this. The logo and the feel of the site, through the greens, the blacks, and the imagery used give it a fresh and modern feeling. Most importantly, it imparts to the audience that the Industry behind this are relevant and "with it", in the 21st Century.
IN ALL, I can definitely take useful pointers to carry through to my own designs from looking at these sites: the visual styling, the actual content, and to pay real attention to the tone with which to speak to the user.
Studying Multimedia at NTU, this blog showcases both the theoretical and practical sides of what I produce.
Things of interest out there on the world wide web sometimes get a mention too!
